Seniors Celebrate Four Years of Accomplishments at Phi Beta Kappa Induction
More than 200 Duke graduating seniors and a small number of juniors were officially inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society, on Thursday evening in Page Auditorium.
Jackson “Reed” and Doug McLaurin, identical twins from Lufkin, Tex., shared the secret to their success after the ceremony.
“You have already accomplished so much,” Price said. “We’re looking forward to where you go from here.”
- Vincent Price
“It was my parents and having (Doug) to compete with all my life,” said Reed McLaurin ‘18, a public policy major who is headed to Stanford Law School and was inducted into PBK last year as a junior.
Doug McLaurin ‘18, an economics major who is going to work in a boutique strategy consulting firm in NY, credited the family influence. “Reed did do better the whole time, but he got some A-s this year,” Doug said, with a smile. “It would be hard if he got it and I didn’t.”
Morghan Phillips ‘18, from Kingston, Jamaica, said her motivation to work hard and plan ahead came from within. “It was me versus myself,” said the cultural anthropology major who minored in French and intends to go to law school after a gap year teaching English in Martinique.
Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa elects more than 15,000 new members a year from 276 chapters across the United States. The Duke Chapter, Beta of North Carolina, was formed in 1920 at Trinity College. Fewer than 10 percent of colleges in the U.S. have a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, and in those colleges, only about 10 percent of the arts and sciences graduates are selected for membership.
Three of Duke chapter’s Phi Beta Kappa officers initiated and welcomed the new members last night with the society’s traditional handshake: Michelle Connolly, vice president; Michael Gustafson, secretary/treasurer; and Lee Baker, historian.
Duke president Vincent Price delivered the keynote address, congratulating the inductees on their achievement. "We know all Duke students are exceptional,” he said. “You are truly the best of the best academically. “
While he told them to savor the moment, he also encouraged them not to rest of their laurels – and to pursue their love of learning. “You have already accomplished so much,” Price said. “We’re looking forward to where you go from here.”
Here are the 2018 inductees:
Helena Catherine Abbott; Graham Desler Adeson; Osasenaga Kelly Aghayere; Hyun Keun Ahn; Priya Alagesan; Haley Lauren Amster; Albert Antar; Zachary Xiang Ao; Ammara Aqeel; Sarah Louise Atkinson;
Claire Ballentine; Sachet Bangia; Edward A. Bartlett; Kathryn Rose-Keppel Benson; Vidit Bhandarkar; Alexander Blutman; John Bollinger; Kirsten Nariko Bonawitz; Rachel Emily Borczuk;
Elizabeth Anne Brown; Michael R. Brunetti; Avery Jackson Brust; Lauren Kelly Bunce; Noah H. Burrell; Tianji Cai; Xiaoyu Cai; Timothy Foerster Campbell; Mikaela Inessa Chandra; Shivram Ayyappan Chandramouli;
Shivani Chandrashekaran; Coco Chen; Minqian Chen; Yanwen Chen; Zhen Yee Kimberline Chew; Isabelle Rae Clark; John Franklin Crenshaw; Mark Michael Cullen; Matthew William Cummins; Devavrat Vivek Dabke;
Michelle Dalson; Sanjeev Dasgupta; Reena Reed Debray; John Zhongzhe Deng; Jason Phanliem Dinh; Khuong Do; Julia Stephanie Kate Donnell; Everett Leighton Durham; Maya Mandara Durvasula;
Jennifer Chelsea Egerter; Jared Shea Eng; Shanna Briere de L'Isle Engelhardt; Hayley Victoria Farless; Rachel Freedman; Remy Minkler Freire; Danielle M. French; Callie Fry; Ryan Shaun Gallagher;
Adrian Joseph Gariboldi; Rechel Anne Geiger; David Geng; Shiv Gidumal; Parker Colburn Gilbert; Drew Isaac Goldstein; John Geary Gregory III; Joseph Parkwood Griffith III; Lilly Gu; Saikiran Gudla;
Robyn Guo; Hana Nicole Hajda; Brittany Erin Halberstadt; Malik Muhammad Sikandar Hanif; Chloe Hollowell Hooks; Anna Chizuko Hoover; Zijing Huang; Othmane Jadi; Ian Scott Jaffe; Isabelle Jensen;
Leigh Johnson; Lauren Adair Jones; Teresa Ju; Kushal Tushar Kadakia; Arielle Rebecca Kahn; Lacey Karboski; Lauren Taylor Katz; Anna Othelia Kaul; Matthew Taylor King; Craig H Kinney; Emre Kızıltuğ;
Emma Jade Lily Koltun-Baker; Yuliya Kozina; Jessica Ann Kuesel; Lindsey Kuohn; Napasorn Kuprasertkul; Nathan Lam; Frederick Matthew Lang; Alexander Yung-Joon Lee; Hee Boung Lee; Oscar Li;
Peishu Li; Alexandria Juliet Lichtl; Lim Si Min Elizabeth; Yixin Lin; Esther Liu; Xinmiao Liu; Yang Liu; Zijie Liu; Jana Lu; Vanessa Lusa; Anson Wade MacKinney; Leona Maguire; Deeksha Malhotra;
Alec Garcia Mazzuckelli; Trevor James McBroom; Meryl Anna McCurry; Grant Stevens McHorse; Charlotte Ellen McKay; Douglas Miller McLaurin; Julia Weil Medine; Marissa Faith Michaels; Grant E. Michl;
Carly Alyse Mirabile; Christopher E. Monti; Chandler Elizabeth Moore; Megan Elizabeth Moore; Sarah Gray Morgan; Hannah Dean Morris; Anika Mukherji; Maaz Mulla; Cam-Ha Thi Nguyen; Madison Leigh Novice;
Song Yeen Maxine Ow; Chinmay Pandit; Jeong Min Park; Ji Youn Park; Talia Patapoutian; Akash Devendrakumar Patel; Jerishma Sanjay Patel; Reid Ingram Patton; Caitlin Leigh Penny; Eric Ryan Peshkin;
Grace Elizabeth Peterson; Graeme Pidcock Peterson; Taylor Nicole Peterson; Yasminye D. Pettway; Akshat Sanjeev Podar; Breanna Alexa Polascik; Jenna Margaret Poplausky; Surya Prabhakar;
Ivana Kimali Premasinghe; Stephanie von Ungern Sternberg Prufer; Matthew Dean Rock; Kyle William Roter; Isaac Scott Rubin; Samantha Jane Sadler; Katherine Carolyn Scandura; Quinn Fox Scanlan;
Michael Schroeder; Julia Nicole Schwartz; Varun Jagannathan Shankar; Yao Shengjie; J. McCann Sheridan; Miriam Singer; Jackson Skeen; Brennan Allan Steele; Matthew Robert Sullivan; Anna Yu Sun;
Marlee Elizabeth Szabo; Sakura Takahashi; Nicole Arin Talerman; Ren Hao Tan; Yi Yan Tay; Henry Johnston Taylor; Jordan Samuel Taylor; Claire Cathryn Thomas; Alexander David Wakil Thompson;
Luke Tseng; Zarah Udwadia; Gregory Han Vuong; Claire Reanna Wang; Weiyao Wang; Samantha Ann Washko; Nicole Jean Wayne; Joyce Wen; Brittany Michelle Wenger; Brooke Whitfield; Cheng Xu;
Hui Xu; Mengying Xu; Shengnan Xu; Brandon Winghong Yan; Jie Yang; Catherine Yiing Yi Yip; Henry Pak-Hang Yuen; Aixuan Zhang; Jenna Marion Zhang; Ziyi Zhang; Zheqing Zhu